Rescue
by Koohii Cafe
Summary: Han was fond of saying that every time Luke went off by himself, he got into trouble. Buffy was just ready to rename him Dawn, call every day Tuesday, and be done with it.


**Title:** Rescue

**Author:** Koohii Cafe

**Rating:** K

**Crossover:** BtVS/Star Wars

**Disclaimer:** Since I am a poor chickadee with no wealth to speak of, I think it's safe to say that neither BtVS nor Star Wars are mine. ^^;

**Written for:** TtH August Fic A Day Challenge

**Summary:** Han was fond of saying that every time Luke went off by himself, he got into trouble. Buffy was just ready to rename him Dawn, call every day Tuesday, and be done with it.

**Author's notes:** Set post 'The Gift' for BtVS and post Return of the Jedi for Star Wars. Part of the 'Way of the Force' series.

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><p><em><strong>Rescue<strong>_

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><p>Han was fond of saying that every time Luke went off by himself, he got into trouble. Buffy was just ready to rename him Dawn, call every day Tuesday, and be done with it. It would at least save her the trouble of wondering from day to day whether or not she was going to have to rescue her friendmaster before bedtime rolled around.

"'_It's just a recon mission_,'" she growled to herself, echoing the very words Luke had assured her of just that morning as she slashed angrily through the underbrush of the forest. "He's a _Jedi_, he can handle a few Imperials! Of _course_ he'll be fine, no problem! He's got it all under control." And she was very, very cranky. She blamed it on the fact that she'd barely made it into the forest and safety, and somewhere- far behind her by now- was half a battalion of stormtroopers who'd chased her with their stupid laser guns. No, sorry, _blasters_. Blasters, laser guns, they were still _guns_, still something Buffy was very much not fond of, and being shot at with _any_ kind of gun was a guarantee for cranky-Buffy. Luke also owed her a new top, since the one she was currently wearing was not only blaster singed, but was getting dirtier by the second, a thought which pulled a snarl from her when a tree branch she thought she'd shoved out of the way rebounded and thwacked her in the face. Stupid mission. Stupid planet. Stupid stormtroopers.

"_Mistress Buffy! Mistress Buffy, are you there?_" Her comlink crackled to life with a voice that made her groan. Unlike Han, she didn't mind Threepio most of the time, but he tended to get overexcited, and in the middle of a crisis wasn't usually a good time to talk to the protocol droid.

"I'm here, Threepio," she answered after a moment, finding a thick, sturdy tree to hide behind. Her eyes flickered across the forest carefully, watching for any unexpected company even as she extended her senses as well. The coast both looked and felt clear, but she fingered the handle of her lightsaber anyway, wary. "Not a lot of time to talk- what's up?"

"_As Captain Solo requested that I remain onboard, and that I refrain from speaking with the shipboard computer,_" Threepio sniffed indignantly, actually making Buffy crack half a smile. That sounded like Han alright- the one time smuggler liked to make noises about how something got screwed up whenever Threepio talked to the Falcon's computer. "_I took it upon myself to begin on another task instead. It was significantly problematical, without communicating with the ship, but I-_"

"Threepio." Buffy cut in deadpan, not having nearly enough patience to listen to Threepio pout. "Not. A lot. Of time. Cut to the chase, okay?"

"_Oh, yes, sorry. I believe I have been able to determine the location of Artoo and Master Luke's ship._"

"_What_?" Hazel green eyes widened in shock. If Threepio knew where they were, things would be so much easier.

"_It was rather difficult to find, I must assure you. It entailed a rather arduous process of-_"

"Don't need the details, Threepio, just need to know where." And crap, she recognized that creepy-crawly feeling that was stealing over her senses, hovering right on the edge of her range- the stormtroopers were getting closer. "I'm kinda in a hurry here, there's Imperials on my tail."

"_Of course,_" came the flustered response. "_Transmitting coordinates now, Mistress._" And seconds later, when she glanced down at her comlink, there they were, and amazingly enough, they weren't even that far away. All she had to do was ditch the stormtroopers, and she'd be golden. Granted, that was easier said than done, but she was the Slayer. What did a bunch of crappy Imperial stormtroopers have on her? Oh right, only _sheer_ _numbers_.

"I'm signing off, Threepio, thanks for the heads up. I'll be back in touch soon enough." With that said, she clicked the comlink decisively off and shoved it in her pocket. Now to take care of the stormtroopers she could even now feel encroaching on her position. This was one of those times she was glad Luke had been working with her to enhance the abilities Yoda had named as Force based abilities- it meant she had far more of a heads up as to when the troopers were coming. Instead of appearing on her radar right before they struck, she had enough time to scan the immediate vicinity and find a good hiding spot to pounce from, a tree with thick enough branches to hide her slim form, and she quickly climbed up the trunk.

She'd been settled onto one of the branches for about five minutes when she spotted the first white helmet below, wandering slowly and cautiously into view. Well, okay, 'wandering' wasn't the right word- he was scanning, more aptly, blaster rifle in hand, and completely alert to his surroundings. He wasn't alone either; apparently she'd caused enough of a ruckus back in town that the Imperials were traveling in groups of five. Which- she totally should have sensed, but hey, she was still learning! Buffy adjusted her plan slightly- not like a couple extra stormtroopers were going to bother her either way- and readied herself to launch. Just- another- second- And then she was off, swinging down from the branch to drop neatly behind the three of them with a crash of leaves and breaking underfoot branches.

"Looking for me?" she grinned, her expression perky as she activated her lightsaber smoothly. The blade sprung to life between she and the stormtroopers, a vibrant shade of green that she was rather fond of. The thing had saved her life numerous times, and really, it was better than any other weapon she'd ever used. Buffy would occasionally give a silent lament that she hadn't had one of these back home on Earth, because seriously? Dealing with most of the big bads would've been a total breeze. Of course, here in the current moment, the stormtroopers took one look at the weapon- and came to the exact wrong conclusions.

"_We've found the Jedi!_" Even in person, they sounded garbled, like she was listening to them through a radio, and her nose wrinkled in response.

"Awwww, sorry, not quite. I'll be your consolation prize though! You've won a fantastic fight with the one and only Slayer!" Then the lightsaber was swinging in a dance that would have been deadly for even the most highly trained of the Empire's stormtroopers, and yet wasn't. Despite the battles she'd been in since arriving in this galaxy, human life- Imperial or not- wasn't something she was prepared to take is she could possibly avoid it. Not yet, and maybe not ever. Instead, the tip of the saber slid cleanly through armor, grazing flesh beneath in debilitatingly painful wounds that were strictly non-lethal, and she struck out more with her body than she'd found most people in this galaxy did. It meant that even stormtroopers tended to be unprepared for her, which was a definite yay.

"Come on, guys," Buffy complained as a spinning kick took down three of the troopers. Then she arched an eyebrow at the remaining two still standing. "That's the best you can do, really? Aren't you supposed to be the 'elite' soldiers, or something like that? The '_best'_ the Empire has to offer?" Because she was about to finish mopping them up after hardly a five minute fight, which was rather pathetic.

"They are." The voice came barely a second before the snap-hiss-hum of a lightsaber being ignited sounded behind her, and Buffy whirled around quickly. It was, of course, her rescuee- who had apparently decided to turn the tables on her, because he was standing between she and five _other_ stormtroopers she hadn't felt sneaking up behind her. "You're not concentrating Buffy; you're not using the Force as you should be. We're going to have to schedule more exercises."

"Isn't being smug against the Jedi Code or something?" she retorted back, not missing the little quirk up at the corner of his lips. Jedi peace, calm, and serenity her rear, Luke was definitely laughing at and teasing her. Without waiting for a response, she swooshed her lightsaber out at the two stormtroopers in front of her, cutting across the first trooper's blaster arm in a burning slice, and just missing the second one as they rolled away. "Also, I had it under control, thank you; _you're_ the one who needed rescuing, not me."

"I see," he answered calmly, and while she was busy with the last trooper on her end and couldn't look, she could hear his lightsaber humming through air and troopers both. "Then I should let you deal with the ten stormtroopers coming in from the east as well?"

"It's not _me_ they're after. What exactly did you _do_, Luke? Kill their new emperor or something?" Crap- the storm trooper had found enough cover to start shooting at them. She struck out quickly, blocking the shots with her lightsaber, but she couldn't do it for long, not without the same connection to the Force that Luke had. So, instead, "Trade. You take the blaster, I'll take these guys."

"It was a trap." There wasn't a hint of concern in him as they smoothly traded places in an almost synchronized move. Luke had already dispatched two of the stormtroopers, leaving three more for Buffy herself. "And while they may not be after you specifically, keep two things in mind. You carry a lightsaber, and they're searching for a Jedi- and I presume you're here to rescue me, correct?"

"No, I'm here for the scenery." Buffy rolled her eyes before she grabbed the arm of the nearest of the three stormtroopers, tugging, spinning, and jerking him in close enough to shove her elbow into the front of his helmet. Predictably, the move stunned him, and he grabbed his helmet with a groan before tumbling down. "Don't you know how much I _love_ running through forests from stormtroopers?"

"As much as Han loves being a general?" The deadpan answer got a loud snort from the Slayer as she used her lightsaber to slice across the chest of one of the two remained stormtroopers, a flesh wound that was just painful enough to make the man cry out and fall to his knees. Then, before she could down the last man, Luke sent him flying into the nearest tree with the Force, knocking him out cold. And for the moment, they were alone. "The others will be here in a minute."

"Let's get to your ship before that happens, then." And without waiting for directions, she turned and headed towards the coordinates Threepio had given her before the fight. Luke didn't even have the grace to look surprised, merely falling in beside her to the quick pace she set. "Got enough room for one more in the X-wing?"

"I fly the Tandem X-Wing regularly now, or hadn't you noticed?"

"Only cause you know you're gonna need me to come save you."

"I think I'm the one who just saved you."

"Shut up." And then they were at the fighter, Artoo beeping a grateful welcome as the canopy roof began to rise. Buffy paused only long enough to activate her comlink before climbing up to jump in. "Han? I've got Luke, but we've also got Imperials on our tail, so we're gonna blow outta here in a minute. Can you get back to the Falcon and cover us?"

"_On our way now- some'a the locals got a little too friendly._"

"Got it. See ya at the meet up point then." Buffy buckled herself in securely, glancing over at Luke. "You get all that?"

"Of course. Artoo, start up the engines, we've worn out our welcome here." Luke harnessed himself in as well, as Artoo trilled his reply and began warming up the ship. Checking the last few straps and safeties as the ship rumbled to life, Buffy decided to herself that at least if she had to rescue _someone_, it was someone who could rescue her in return.


End file.
